Jhonny Peralta
Jhonny Antonio Peralta St. Louis Cardinals – No. 27 • Shortstop • Third Baseman • Left Fielder Born: May 28, 1982 (age 31) Santiago, Dominican Republic Bats: Right Throws: Right MLB Debut Jhonny Peralta's MLB debut was on June 12, 2003 for the Cleveland Indians Career Statistics Batting average: .245 Hits: 1,407 Home runs: 164 Runs batted in (RBI): 716 Teams Cleveland Indians (2003–2010) Detroit Tigers (2010–2013 St. Louis Cardinals (2014-Present) Career Highlights and Awards • 2× All-Star (2011, 2013) Playing career Cleveland Indians Peralta was signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent in 1999. In 2000, the 18-year-old Peralta began his pro career with the Columbus RedStixx, the Class A affiliate of the Indians in the South Atlantic League. He batted .241 in 106 games, playing all but one game at shortstop (the other was at third base). The following season he advanced to the Kinston Indians, the Cleveland Indians High-A affiliate in the Carolina League. In 125 games, he batted .240. In 2002, Peralta moved up to the Double-A Akron Aeros, where he hit .281. Peralta batting for the Indians in 2009 Peralta made his Major League debut with Cleveland on June 12, 2003, filling in for the injured short stop Omar Vizquel. He would go on to hit .227 with four home runs (HR) and 21 runs batted in (RBIs) in 2003. In 2004, despite great Triple-A numbers, Peralta only saw 25 at-bats in eight games with the Indians due to the presence of perennial Gold Glover and fan-favorite Vizquel, who left the Indians as a free agent after the 2004 season. By this time, Peralta had established himself as one of the minor league's better hitters in his time with the Akron Aeros and Buffalo Bisons. He was the 2004 Player of the Year in the International League, helping Buffalo win the International League championship. He was named the Indians 2004 Minor League Player of the Year (receiving the "Lou Boudreau Award").1 Peralta became Cleveland's full-time starting shortstop early in the 2005 season. Peralta batted .292; his 24 HRs and 78 RBIs set records for an Indians short stop. He entrenched himself in the third slot in the batting order in the Indians lineup. On March 10, 2006, Peralta agreed to a five-year contract with an option for a sixth year to stay with the Indians until the 2011 season. However, his 2006 season saw a decline both offensively and defensively from the previous season. At the start of spring training in 2007, it was revealed that Peralta suffered from vision problems in 2006 and had corrective LASIK eye surgery to deal with it.2 Peralta hit his first inside-the-park home run on July 18, 2010, against the Detroit Tigers and pitcher Andy Oliver, after outfielder Ryan Raburn crashed through the bullpen door attempting to catch the ball.3 Detroit Tigers On July 28, 2010, he was traded to the Detroit Tigers for minor league pitcher Giovanni Soto and cash considerations.4 He was forced to change his longtime uniform number from 2 to 27, because the Tigers had retired the number 2 in honor of Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer.5 He played primarily as a third baseman for the Tigers this season. On July 30, 2010, Peralta hit a home run in his first plate appearance as a Tiger, and then another in his third plate appearance.6 On July 8, 2011, Peralta was named to his first career All-Star Game, as a replacement for Derek Jeter.7 He finished the 2011 regular season with a career-high .299 batting average, while also collecting 21 home runs and 86 RBIs. Returning to shortstop full-time, he committed 7 errors in 608 chances for a career-best .988 fielding percentage. Peralta hit his first walk-off home run as a Tiger against the Chicago White Sox on May 4, 2012.8 On June 20, 2013, Jhonny hit a walkoff two-run home run off Boston Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey to defeat the Red Sox, 4–3. It was the Tigers first walkoff win of the season.9 On July 1, 2013, Peralta was named to his second AL All-Star team as a reserve shortstop. This was his first selection by player vote (his previous selection was as an injury replacement). Peralta entered the All-Star break with a .303 average, 8 home runs and 46 RBIs. On August 5, 2013, Peralta accepted a 50-game suspension for his role in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal.10 On September 25, 2013, the Tigers announced that Peralta would be activated to the 40-man roster following his suspension, and he returned on Friday, September 27 for the final series of the regular season.11 In his shortened regular season, Jhonny batted .303 with 11 home runs and 55 RBI. Personal Peralta is married to Molly Peralta. The couple has three girls, including twins named Gabriela Rose and Laina Katherine. Name Spelling While the spelling of his first name is unusual in the United States, Peralta says many people use that spelling in the Dominican Republic. He also told the "Santo Domingo Times" that his spelling is right and every "Johnny" or "Johnnie" in the world is wrong. References "Minor League Player of the Year by Team". The Baseball Cube. Retrieved July 25, 2011. Castrovince, Anthony (February 20, 2007). "Notes: Eye surgery helping Peralta". MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Castrovince, Anthony. Peralta hits improbable inside-the-parker MLB.com. Retrieved 9 July 2012 Price, Ed (July 28, 2010). "Tigers Add Jhonny Peralta From Indians". AOL Fanhouse. Retrieved July 26, 2010. The ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia. p. 1775. Retrieved July 19, 2011. Ulman, Howard (July 31, 2010). "Peralta hits 2 HRs in Detroit debut, a 6–5 win". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 19, 2011. Crawford, Kirkland (July 9, 2011). "Tigers' Jhonny Peralta named to All-Star team as replacement". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved July 9, 2011. "Jhonny Peralta drills two-run walk-off homer to lift Tigers". ESPN. Retrieved 5 May 2012. Peralta's walk-off HR provides much-needed closure MLB.com, June 20, 2013 Twelve players get 50-game suspensions MLB.com August 6, 2013 Tigers to activate Peralta when suspension ends MLB.com September 25, 2013 Kornacki, Steve (August 10, 2010). "Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta's even-keel play impresses manager Jim Leyland". MLive. Retrieved August 21, 2013.